One of the cleaning systems for "hard surfaces" (i.e., as exemplified by formica counter tops and table tops, computer screens, kitchen appliances, porcelain bathroom surfaces) have used solid or liquid soap, and currently preferably used detergents, which were applied to the surface with or without some scrubbing means.
In the past, liquid cleaners generally contained an active surfactant in addition to water, buffers, preservatives, thickeners, etc. Some of these liquid cleaners are designed to be diluted at the time of use with the dilution factors often being in the range of from 50 to 1 to 100 to 1.
Liquid cleaners were eventually modified to be used in the form of an aerosol or non-aerosol foam. The foams did not require dilution and therefore delivered more active cleaning chemicals to the surface to be cleaned. The action of the foam itself purportedly obviated the need to "scrub" the surface, however, these foams have not always worked as intended.
Another of the systems for cleaning hard surfaces comprised the use of scrubbing powders, such as sodium bicarbonate, as a carrier for the liquid surfactants used. These powders were diluted with fillers and various abrasive compounds. With the addition of a powdered bleaching agent to the abrasive powders, they gained a reputation of heavy-duty hard surface cleaning.
The difficulty experienced in the prior art with the above-mentioned liquids, foams and powders to achieve a hard surface cleaning was to get the active ingredient to the specific area of the surface to be cleaned in full strength.
Obviously, the aforementioned systems were all liquid systems and would not be efficient for instances where it is desired merely to remove dust from the hard surface. The removal of dust from a hard surface depends upon an entirely different type of system, usually a system wherein, for example, a cloth is impregnated with oil or some other dust removing agent. These dust-removing agents, while demonstrating a capacity to remove dust, are invariably incompatible with water so that the wet-dry systems mentioned above are mutually exclusive with respect to their use.